


Stress Baking & Origami Trees

by catmonster64



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: F/M, Fluff, How Do I Tag, My First AO3 Post
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-19 03:08:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,275
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13114716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catmonster64/pseuds/catmonster64





	Stress Baking & Origami Trees

Zoe hadn't expected for stress baking to end up like this. It had started simple, when Zoe got stressed she baked cookies. This ended in a problem one night. Cynthia had recently been on a gluten free kick meaning her cookies, that had gluten, would have to leave the house before Cynthia found out. 

The solution came almost instantly; Evan had mentioned that he usually didn't eat at night because he didn't like ordering food. She could give Evan the cookies, assuming he wasn't allergic to peanut butter. 

The mission was set in place. It was quite easy to sneak out since Larry had decided it was the perfect time to argue with Connor. With Larry's back to the door and Connor too caught up in fighting to notice, she made her escape. It seemed like Zoe was going to have to walk because taking her car would probably alert her family to what she was doing. The walk was dark and cold along the smooth black road but Zoe was warmed by the cookies she carried. 

When she arrived at Evan's house she tentatively knocked on the door (the doorbell stopped working 2 years ago). The door opened but instead of Evan appearing behind the door she was met with Heidi. 

Hedi's tired face quickly transformed into a smile. "Hi Zoe," she greeted. "Evan's in his room." She let Zoe in and Zoe quickly hurried to Evan's room. She rapped on his door and it opened just a smidge. 

"Boo," she murmured to the crack and the door swiftly opened, revealing Evan in all his anxious glory. 

"Hi- Hi Zoe," he awkwardly stuttered out before quietly inviting her into his room. They made their way over to his bed and sat on it. 

"I brought you some cookies," she said while raising the bag of cookies to emphasize her point. "You're not allergic to peanut butter, right?" Evan hurriedly shook his head and confirmed that, no, he was not allergic. Zoe plopped the cookies in his lap and after a minute of him just staring at them like they were going to explode, she added, "You can eat them, Evan." 

"Oh yeah- yeah, I knew that- that," he muttered even though it was clear that he did not know that. He timidly brought one of the smaller cookies to his mouth and took a hesitant bite. Evan's face instantly lit up. "These are- are really good, Zoe!" He exclaimed with a bit more confidence than usual. 

She laughed and thanked him when her phone lit up. Upon checking it she muttered things that would make Cynthia reprimand her. "Sorry Evan, I have to go," she apologized. Evan's expression fell almost immediately. 

His mumbled response sounded like, "That's alright." She couldn’t be sure, though. Zoe quickly pulled him into a hug before leaving. 

When she arrived home, it was almost peaceful. Connor and Larry weren't yelling at each other, though Larry was glaring at the table and Connor was blasting his emo music. She was almost immediately bombarded with questions from Cynthia. Zoe quickly dispelled her fears and confirmed that she was at Evan's house. 

She ran up the stairs and snuck down the hallway to her room. Upon entering she flopped onto her bed. 

The next morning, she was woken up by a screaming match between Larry and Connor. She shouldn't have been as surprised as she was, they fought almost daily. Zoe did her best to get ready as quickly as possible. She decided to skip breakfast, best to avoid getting between Larry and Connor. 

With that she swiftly left the house. It was cold outside but she didn't have to deal with it for very long. She scrambled into the driver's seat of her car and drove away. 

While on the road Zoe decided she would pick Evan up since he had to ride the bus. He had mentioned on numerous occasions that the bus usually made him have a panic attack whenever he had to ride it. 

She pulled into Evan's driveway and sent him a text that consisted of, 'get in loser we're going shopping'. Zoe was a sucker for Mean Girls references. She saw the passenger door open and a body move into the seat next to her. 

"Uh, hey- hey Zoe," Evan muttered, anxiously fiddling with the hem of his shirt. He nervously smiled at her before staring at his feet. He seemed to have something on his mind and Zoe almost pried but decided not to. 

As she backed out of his driveway, Zoe noticed that Evan kept apprehensively glancing at his backpack. "Is everything okay?" She ventured, not wanting to scare Evan back into his shell. He nodded so hard Zoe was worried that he would get whiplash. Almost immediately after answering her, Evan curled in on himself. Zoe was worried but didn't want to press more than she already had. 

After a couple minutes of driving they had arrived at the school. Evan slowly stretched himself out and grabbed his bag. 

"See you at lunch," Zoe called after him as he exited the car. His face seemed to light up and he nodded eagerly before catching himself and walking away. Zoe smiled to herself, Evan would never fail to make her smile. 

Following the crowd Zoe entered the school and was lost in a sea of bodies. She made her way to her locker to get everything she needed for math. 

Classes passed normal and before she knew it, it was time for her to meet up with Evan for lunch. Zoe always packed a big lunch incase Evan forgot to pack one or didn't have enough food at his house to be able to. 

She met Evan by the library. To little surprise, he didn't have a lunch. Evan started to stutter out some question before Zoe cut him off. 

"Don’t worry, I have extra food," she reassured him. Evan visibly relaxed and they made their way to one of the library tables. Once again, Evan anxiously glanced at his bag. 

"Um, I got- got something for you. Well, I- I made it," he muttered and seemed to instantly regret saying anything. Evan cautiously reached into his bag and pulled out a tiny origami tree. It was an adorable, small thing. 

The leaves were dark green and the bark was a beautiful rich brown. Zoe carefully took it out of his hands and looked straight into Evan's eyes. 

"I'm a mother," she said with a huge smile on her face. 

"That makes me- me the, um, father?" Evan asked. Zoe nodded, still awe-struck by the cute, little tree Evan had made. 

Their moment was ruined when a harsh voice cut through the air. 

"Hansen, I swear to god if you got my sister pregnant I will murder you," came the chilling sound. 

Zoe whipped her head around, and there stood Connor. He looked like he was about to kill Evan with the book he was carrying. 

"Relax, Evan just made me a tree." 

"You said you were a mother?" 

"Of the goddamn tree, Connor." 

"Don't swear around our- our child," Evan's soft voice said. He looked tense but was obviously trying to keep a fight from breaking out. 

Zoe sighed and slumped back in her chair. Evan quietly put his hand over hers and gave a cautious smile. Zoe returned the expression and relaxed. It felt like they could go on for forever this way. 

Eventually all good things had to come to an end though.

"See you tomorrow?" Zoe asked. 

"I- I'd like that," Evan said with a smile. 

And everything was okay.


End file.
